Thursday, April 19, 2012

Looking past the crap.

After my last post I've been thinking about writing a blog about the ordinary stuff that goes on. The not so blog worthy stuff. The lice combing, the never ending piles of laundry, the stress attacks over keeping up with school and life details, the wee on the floor, the dead mouse smell from the roof, the mess of beyond overripe pears in the bottom of the fridge, the mess full stop..............

If you read my blog you know that these things exist here. You know that there are wrinkles and tears. But to be honest, I don't want to dwell on those things. Why would I when I could focus on the good, the happy, the love? And it's amazing what happens as soon as you decide to see the beauty in your life. As soon as you make a conscious decision to be happy, to love your people and to live your dreams.

What started out as a pretty crappy week has turned out to be quite wonderful.
I've noticed the details, I've been kind to myself and I've been happy.

I haven't had much of a chance to crochet this week, but I've loved having the weight of the granny blanket to warm our toes at night. The colours look so joyful against the white of our bed-sheets.

I've been lucky enough to find some vintage treasures. A floor length velvet pinafore which I will have to shorten despite the fact that it makes me feel oh so glamorous, and some Johnson Brothers crockery including this beautiful blue set.

I've been gifted bright pink flowers from the youngest and two bunches of the most fragrant roses from the oldest.

I've been digging in the back of cupboards and pulling out hand knits. I knitted this cardi almost two years ago, I'm so pleased she'll get another year out of it.

We've been spending lots of time outside. The days have been gloriously warm and sunny. We've been collecting kindling, planting, weeding and making lots of new garden beds. And we've been walking around the big block and the lake and shifting things around so we can eat our breakfast and drink our coffee in the garden.

And lastly but really firstly, I've been overwhelmed with kindness and support from your guys.
Thank you!!!!
Your words have meant the world to me.

I am grateful magateful.

I do hope your week has been a lovely one too.
I hope there has been treasure and yummy food, some crafting and some fabulous friends.
I hope you feel loved.
I hope that you have looked past the crap and seen a bit of wonderful.

Brilliant. I think that what people forget is our blogs are just that, ours, to write what we want, to share what we want, we don't make people read them, but first and foremost they are our record of a snippet of our lives.

I love seeing a snippet of the life I used to lead when my family was whole, we lived on a small holding in the heart of the Dorset Countryside here in England, if I had kept a blog then it would looked like my life was Oh so happy and blissful, it wouldn't have shown the underlying sadness I felt every day being in a marriage that was very unhappy, two children who fought at every opportunity, the piles of washing, etc etc, it would have shown amazing views, animals, cooking, crafting, it would have shown what I wanted to show.

I love reading your blog, it reminds me of how really wonderful this life of our is and how we own, not only our blogs but our lives, and even if a bit crappy, they are still pretty wonderful.

I've had quite a boring but satisfying day and I'm looking forward to curling up with the Mr and the kids and watching a movie tonight. It's nice to have things ticked off the list, a clean house and a full pantry. Makes me feel less guilty about doing things for me! :)

I was just speaking with a friend that I made in hospital last year, and we were discussing gratitude. She said that gratitude made you see the colours on the trees so much more intensely, and made you see people and their goodness much more readily.

Hi Kate, I love your blog, your positive outlook is very inspiring, but the wee on the floor, the mess in the fridge and the occasional melt down make us all realise yours is a real life and not some overly polished magazine styled one. I say keep it all it makes us all realise it is humanly possible to turn things round, how ever difficult that process is, and live positively.

I agree, kate. Focussing on the good stuff is not about turning your life into a magazine spread, but about appreciating the joy and beauty of life. Thanks for your lovely perspective on this :) ps, you've inspired me to take up crochet, I love your efforts!! x

I agree, kate. Focussing on the good stuff is not about turning your life into a magazine spread, but about appreciating the joy and beauty of life. Thanks for your lovely perspective on this :) ps, you've inspired me to take up crochet, I love your efforts!! x

Good stuff! I agree with Poopy Cottage. Our blogs are exactly that. I always put the lighter side of my life in my blog and I always say that if people don't like it, they don't have to visit! But perhaps not as politely as that!!!xx

Beautiful Kate! I'm so glad you've had a great week so far & that you've managed to see the good & the glorious through the crap, and thank you oh so much for inspiring me to do the same! My weeks been wonderful, I must blog about it..x

Beautiful Kate! I'm so glad you've had a great week so far & that you've managed to see the good & the glorious through the crap, and thank you oh so much for inspiring me to do the same! My weeks been wonderful, I must blog about it..x

I think it would be pretty hard for anyone to faithfully visit a blog that focuses on the messier sides of life. For most of us we already have that on a daily basis. I am never without toppling laundry baskets, unchecked to do lists, toys on top of dust bunnies...I love seeing the beauty you share. x ashley

I have been meaning to comment on your previous post, but, you know, life has to be lived, children fed, etc...I know why I love your IG feed so much too, because you choose to show the good bits, the happy bits, the beautiful bits. You don't dwell on the negatives, but I know that you will have, like me, bills and washing and wee and mess. It is a choice to see the good bits, and this is how I live my life - now. I was not always like this. I am such a happier person for choosing to acknowledge all the good, happy, and beautiful moments in my life. At the end of the day, we only have one life, so we have to live it, and love it, all of it.

There has been crafting, good food, and treasure here. I have managed to look past the crap and see the lively boys here (and one little chick) today living and loving life, all good mates, it's heart warming, thanks for reminding me to rise above it all. Glad your week turned round, life is funny like that. Unexpected, good, bad and ugly, but worthwhile. By the by, we love love plaits in our house too!

Aren't blogs a little like going out with your friends? You dress up, apply a bit of lippy and smile; even if things aren't going well, you make an effort and look on the bright side. No-one wants to spend all night with the miserable person in the corner who always complains. On the other hand, we never mind picking up the pieces when things go badly awry.

Do people seriously want you to talk about nit-combing? Maybe they need to go find another blog??? Just keep doing what you are doing, it's fine the way it is and I know your life isn't perfect, no-one's ever is.

Glad you have had some nice finds to brighten your week....it is nice to know that you have the gloomy things happen to but it is certainly nice to pop by and see all the colour and joy in your world. xx

Often it's your outlook that determines whether things are good or bad rather than the situations themselves. I got a simple reminder on Sunday Morning when I was out running, at the start I felt so negative ...why was I running, what else could I be doing blah..blah..blah. It wasn't until i'd been running for a while that I realised that everything I loved was around me and that there wasn't anything else I would want to be doing ... fortunately my negative thoughts turned to positive.Pop over to my blog if you fancy a read about my Sunday Morning Run.

We just have to keep reminding ourselves that the simple things are often the things that we'd miss about our lives if it was all taken away.

Thanks for the reminder, Kate. I feel like crap right now but hopefully in the next few days, I will feel healthier again and start to live life with a spring in my step and an appreciation for the little things.

Yes, there you go again with your wonderful words. It's all too true.Sometimes I'm so overwhelmed by the crap, I want to cry (and often do). But then I have to pick myself up and push through to find the wonderful.And the wonderful is ever abundant and makes me oh, so happy.You and your words are a great inspiration. Thank you once again for being you.Kitty x

Beautiful post Kate, as always! I love visiting your blog for your ability to string together both the ups and downs in your life and still walk away with a glass half full attitude to life. Not to mention gorgeous photography that always makes me smile.

I like to focus on the good stuff but I have to admit it's kinda comforting to know that everyone's life has the good the bad and the ugly/smell/moldy lol! Not in a bad way mind just in a 'we are all in the same boat'kind of way, and it's nice we can give one another a hand once in a while even if it's listening to the lists of things that get us down and going "I know just know how you feel!" Have a very happy day with your lovely's.x

You set us such a wonderful example. We know yuck stuff happens to everyone, but you chooses to look beyond that and focus on the positive. Such a wonderful gift you are giving your children and your readers.Take care,Anne xx

That's the thing I love about blogging, we all have the laundry and the bills and the lice combs to deal with but this is where we choose to stop and not only smell the roses but photograph them to get us through the rainy days -love your blog x

Loved this post, Kate. But I also like the ones about the crap. The crap shows the balance and that you're a real human being, one that I don't have to feel inferior too;) Kepp on doing what you're doing. Love it!

What a find with those beautiful blue Johnson plates and bowls! - I have one plate in this design and love to eat off it. I love the attitude that you have taken - I sometimes find it hard to be positive but try to value the small stuff to find happiness.Enjoy your weekend.

Your veggies look so healthy, my poor Kale is fodder to someone else...not me :( Your vintage treasures are beautiful too. Gosh we all have the not so great bits in our every day, however I like to focus on and be grateful for the good bits in the day, as the saying goes "What you focus on, expands" Love yor granny blanket, I have just started and granny square and am enjoying it growing.xx Sandi

Embrace the good parts in life I say:) I'm with you Kate.Blogging is last on my todo let at the moment, but I know that it will be there when I am ready.The good at the end of this week will be falling asleep and having my breathing hot water bottle back beside me. He has been missed.

The crummy things in life remind us of the bright places, the good memories, the loveliness that comes in bits and snatches. Kids grow and take flight and move on. The little things mean so much to others. Thank you for reminding me to comment when I love a post, to say thank you for the little things.

We once had an apple tree and the joy of the canned apple butter and frozen apple pie filling was incredible.=)Karen

Funny, I was just gearing up for the weekly lice comb through of curly heads. I don't think that you present your blog in an overly polished way, I think you focus on nice things and really, i think that is great. I think you mention the chaos at regular enough intervals that regular readers would know that life in an organic farm sounds idyllic and in many ways it is yet it also has its challenges just like anything else.

I am really shocked that someone commented on your toes nails. that is all. xx

sounds much like my week... sick baby and having to give back assignments to my students, some of whom failed (awfullest feeling EVER) but we've also gone to the markets, made jam, made bread, been at the beach, been in the sunshine, read books and knitted. as long as these things outweigh the yuck, I'm good to go!

Yes, I hear you about the crap. All the stuff that doesn't make it into the pictures, the stuff that doesn't get blogged about. It's always there though. This and your last post were a breath of fresh air. Love that you keep it real and beautiful at the same time. Hope your weekend was a good one x

You know, I read on a Swedish blog - Underbara Clara - how she often get questioned about her "ridiculous blogging". It is stupid to write about flowers, the grits in the morning, the updates on how carrots grow and to show your latest handmade creation decorating your home. That is what people often tell her. Blogging is her job. She is very successful at what she does and she is only 26... Maybe we got some jealousy going on there but anyway... In a post touching this topic recently she also explained that it is actually scientifically proven that blogging about the good things in life, moments of happiness and focusing on the good things instead of the bad is working as cognitive behavioral therapy for us. Someone who has the blues tend to focus on the negative while when we focus on the good the blues goes away. I think that is very interesting... When blogging every other day we keep focus on happy moments but if we go in therapy we might not do our homework so well outside the doctors office. Blogging is a feel good tool in psychiatry, seen from my perspective.

We all have the crap around us. You are not alone. You are doing a great job making your life a great place to be. It is like a fairytale to come over here, but it is actually reality. Happiness is not a condition we live in. Happiness are a collection of moments making us feel good. And blogging is just that. Pictures, reflections of small things. Like writing a smiley diary. Wonderful.♥♥♥

I totally agree, and had to chuckle a little, as late last night I finally located the origin of a ‘whiff’ that had been unsettling me all day as I worked in the kitchen.....waaaaay overripe pears in the bottom of the fruit bowl!!!! It is important to focus on the positive and the creative and the things that make us happy. It’s always a pleasant surprise to me if I’m having an off day to look back over past posts I have written and discover that I did make some pretty {but possibly still unfinished...?!} things, I did stop to see the beauty in a flower picked from the garden or a vintage treasure in the local charity shop. It is wonderful therapy and helps to put the crappy stuff into perspective for sure.I love your blanket the colours are gorgeous. x

I do read every single comment you leave and appreciate it very much, but I should let you know that I can be a wee bit on the useless side when replying to comments, that's just me, everyday life sometimes gets in the way....so I'll apologise now, just in case.